Final Moments
by Dr Ukato
Summary: Tachibana had lived a full life despite having it cut short. She has no regrets...


**Inspired by the recent chapters. Be warned as this is nothing for the faint-hearted (Or at least that's what my beta reader said)**

 **I do not own Nisekoi.**

* * *

Marika did not have much longer to live.

The disease which had been eating away at her body for all these years had finally taken too big a bite out of her.

She had been hospitalized for close to a year now. At first she could still walk around, spend time with her friends and keep up with school.

But alas. Since a month back, she was too weak to even stand up for long periods of time and such spent most of her time in bed.

Marika knew it was time, of course. The way the doctors took her father outside of her room that one day made it even more clear.

She would die. Hopefully in her sleep. At least then it would be painless.

* * *

The following days Marika had too many visitors to count. All her classmates came to visit.

She was a mess. Her skin was thin and dry. Her complexion was dazed and pale. However, her classmates didn't seem to mind.

She might not have said it, but she was truly grateful for being blessed with such good classmates.

And then came Shuu with his ridiculous flirting and Ruri had to elbow him to make him stop. She smiled weakly at his antics, reminiscing about the old times.

Even Chitoge ,who always acted as if she hated her, looked to be on the verge of tears all the time.

As they were about to leave, Marika asked her to stay behind for a while.

When Chitoge left she really was crying and refused to speak to anyone.

Marika was happy. She had no regrets. Well, maybe one.

* * *

He came two hours later. Marika was fast asleep so he merely sat down waiting for her to awake.

When she finally awoke she struggled to see who exactly was sitting beside her.

"Raku-sama...?"

"Yeah. You were asleep so I waited."

"OH MY! I'm so sorry. Just wait I'll get you some te-" She said trying to get out of bed but collapsed.

Before she could hit the ground, however, Raku caught her in his arms.

He paled in fear when he realized just how light she was. He had been hugged by her enough times to get a good grasp of her weight.

However now he felt as if a kid would be heavier.

Ignoring his fear, he put her back into bed and pulled the covers over her.

"Idiot. If I wanted tea I'd have gotten it myself."

"Sorry." Marika coughed. "I'm being a terrible host."

"No worries. Just let me take care of you for once."

* * *

Raku sat with her for hours. Putting a wet towel on her forehead, holding her hand when she coughed so harshly that she wanted to scream in pain.

And on her request they played some games like the ones they used to play when he visited her in the hospital as kids.

"Raku-sama..." Marika whispered once the sun began to set.

"Yes?"

"C-Could you maybe stay with me a little longer?"

"Sure. I'll stay with you as long as you want."

* * *

Two hours later, a nurse brought Raku a meal in a plastic tray. Marika was not in the mood to eat anything as the IV provided her with everything she needed.

"Raku-Sama? Could you maybe go eat in the cafeteria? I need to speak with my father in private for a while."

Raku silently obliged and left. As he exited the door, he told the man that his daughter wished to speak with him. When he returned, the Police Chief came walking out, eyes red from tears.

"What happened exactly?" Raku asked when he entered the room.

"Oh nothing much. You know just... saying goodbye and stuff."

* * *

 _"Marika! What are you saying?!"_

 _"You heard me right Father. When I'm gone, I want you to make sure that NO ONE from the police force tries to harm Raku-sama in any way if he wishes to start a relationship with someone else."_

 _"But-"_

 _"NO! I may be his fianceé through an agreement but the truth is that he will never love me like I love him. I want him to be free when I'm gone! I don't want for Honda or anyone else to try and stop him from finding happiness with someone that isn't me."_

 _The police chief looked at his daugther. This girl was so strong. The universe was cruel for taking her away so early. He tilted his head back, choking back tears._

 _"As you wish. I'll make sure that no one gets in his way."_

 _"Thank you... daddy."_

 _"I've met many brave and strong men in my work Marika. But no one like you. I couldn't be prouder to call you my daugther."_

* * *

"Anyway Raku-sama, shouldn't you be heading home by now? It's already dark." It was true. The sun had since long set and the night sky had bid farewell to the sun.

"I already called home. They told me to stay as long as I wanted."

"But-"

"I'm staying Tachibana. Not because you want me to, but because I want to."

"Okay then. But I probably won't be much company."

"It's fine. I can talk enough for the both of us."

* * *

Raku woke in the middle of the night with a jolt. He had fallen asleep in the chair next to Marika's bed.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he froze when saw that Marika was coughing blood.

"TACHIBANA!" He rushed out of chair but stood there, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly the coughs stopped and a single drop of red blood ran down her chin. "It's okay Raku-sama." She said in the weakest voice possible. "It's time now... Don't worry."

"No! Tachibana I-" He began but was stopped by her before he could say anything more.

"No. Just... Tell me... was there ever a chance for us?"

Raku stood silent. What should he do? Lie to a dying person? Or tell the truth?

Marika saw his eyes and snickered weakly. "I guess not, huh? It's fi-"

"NO! Just hear me out. I know I may push you away, hurt you, ignore you but... I... I really care for you... Marika."

"And... maybe there could've been... something else between us but..." he continued choking on the words.

"It's okay... Is there someone else? I won't hate you for it just let me know..."

Despite the situation, Raku blushed. "Well... not right now at the very least."

"Okay. Promise me Raku-sama. If you ever find someone you really truly love... don't let her get away!"

"I promise...But... Just how do you do it? How is it that despite rejection and disinterest you never give up?"

Marika giggled and coughed up some more blood. "What else could I do? Ever since I was a little child I knew I wouldn't live as long as everyone else. I didn't have anything to live for."

"When I was in that hospital... all alone without friends... I... I didn't know why I was even born... I felt like I was trapped in darkness."

"Then you came along. You... pulled me out of that darkness and... gave me a reason for living... Thank you... "

* * *

Raku was pretty sure he'd forever hate graveyards after this. It was such a depressing place to be really.

It was a sunny summer day. Flowers blooming all over.

Appearently Marika had decided on a western-style funeral with a coffin and gravestone... the whole thing really.

No one had argued against it. When Marika wanted something she would get it that way.

No one ever bothered to argue against her. It was a losing battle.

The entire police force attended and so did everyone in their class. Even Kyoko-sensei was there, together with her husband.

It was a beautiful ceremony. The priest had appearently known her since she was a child and held a beautiful speech.

Raku, dressed in typical black mourning clothing had Chitoge on one side and Onodera on the other. If it had been any other time he'd been ecstatic about it, but not today.

Not after what had happened.

* * *

 _"Thank you... Raku-sama... Can I make one final selfish request?"_

 _"Sure... Whatever you want, I'll provide."_

 _"Could you please... kiss me just once? I know it's selfish but..." Before she could finish more blood burst out of her mouth, splattering the white bedsheets. Marika grimaced in pain and began gasping for air._

 _Raku stood still, before making a desicion._

 _Leaning forth, he wiped away the blood on her mouth with his sleeve, the young girl seemingly finding her breath again._

 _Gently, gently he palmed the back of her head and pulled her in._

 _Electricity sparked as their lips touched. Raku felt the iron-y taste that was her blood, but nonetheless kept the kiss going. It was only right._

 _Marika savored what she could get, feeling how unlike what the romance novels had told her, that things seemed to become darker..._

 _darker..._

 _darker..._

 _dar-_

* * *

The head physician stood next to the motionless girl. "Time of death: 00:37"

Raku was on his knees crying like if he was a little kid, tears trailing down his face.

At some point he was made to leave the room.

Through some means he managed to get home, where for once the Yakuza members didn't bother him.

That night he had collapsed onto his bed and just slept.

* * *

 **Twelve years later...**

Raku was walking down the brickroad leading to the grave. Just like he did every year on this day.

Only this time he had someone else with him.

"Daddy, what was auntie Marika like?"

Meet Mariko Ichijou, age six. She is practically a carbon copy of her father with her black hair and kind eyes. She is a soft-hearted girl who always tries to help people the best she can.

Even after twelve years the thought of Marika is painful for Raku. The memories are just too tough to take.

"Well. She was always kind, She was extremely passionate when it came to love and she liked to spend time with her friends despite how much she denied it."

Raku gazed off in the distance, his vision turning slightly blurry.

"But most of all she was very strong. If she wanted something she'd make sure she got it. If no one could provide it she'd make it herself."

The small girl's eyes sparkled in admiration. "Wooow... She sounds really cool!"

"Yeah... Yeah she was." Raku mumbled to himself as the little girl placed a flower on the tombstone. A sunflower just like the one Marika always had in her hair.

Sometimes the similarities between his daugther and Tachibana were too big to be ignored. Both were strong people filled with passion, and both could be a little too aggressive at times but were kind-hearted and loyal nonetheless.

As such Raku felt it fitting his daugther be named after her. It was the only logical choice.

The two spent another five minutes wiping the gravestone clean from dirt and giving a quick prayer before leaving.

On the way out of the cemetary, they met the guys from the Police Force all in black tuxedos, some of which Raku recognized. They all gave him and his daugther a quick glance before moving on.

Raku had heard about Marika's request to her father at the funeral. She always wanted him to be happy.

The wounds were still there. He had been a mess for months following her death, and his friends had tried every move in the book to get him back on his feet, all in vain.

After many attempts, they had given up and just let him recover.

Sometime during the final year of highschool he had been able to return to something like a normal life.

During college he had begun dating the woman who now was his wife. Slowly but carefully, the wounds had mended and Marika became but a memory.

She would always be there, even when he got married, Marika had been in the back of his mind.

When he graduated college she had been right next to him, congratulating him.

When his father suddenly passed away he could feel her behind him, stroking his hair and comforting him.

When he took over the Shuuhei group and reformed it into a series of companies, selling the members skills as security guards, martial art teachers, volunteer workers and so on, during the hard times of getting turned down or just rejected, Marika had been pushing him on.

When he married his current wife... well you didn't have to be a genius to realize why it was that all the flowers wilted the day before.

The group in itself was still regarded as a Yakuza group, but had not seen trouble with the police or other groups for several years.

Marika would always be with him, no matter how much he tried to forget her.

And he was fine with it.

* * *

 **Well that was depressing. Time to work something funnier.**

 **If you liked it or have any complaints, just leave a review and i'll get back to you.**


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